I have a plan - so everything is fine

Starfish75789

 Debts update

I stopped paying everything in May so nearly all of them are up to 6 missed payments. 
Ive received in the post default letters but only one (HSBC showing on my report)

Amex - Well interesting response from NCO - "So you want to make an offer, please send all these details please"....ive ignored, I shouldn't have engaged before defaulting , Iwill see how it plays out. 

Sainsburys CC and Loan - Both are still adding interest and charges. Ive now got 6 months of missed payments. Ive sent these an affordable complaint based on the point that the second loan for 20k paid off the first loan and all my credit cards but then they increased my balance on my CC too and sending offers to balance transfer. Ive also received a random email from Capital Resolve Ltd advising its my time to pay. Ignored and deleted.

Monzo - Advised would default on the 15th January. Only emails received from these though, nothing in the post yet. 

Santander - nothing received.
Ive sent these an affordable complaint too similar to the above but they gave me a loan when id already got the 20k loan above and maxed out cards. They also provided the CC at the same time so I could move some of balance onto the CC and some I paid off with the loan. Crazy when I look at this now....what was I thinking.

HMRC - need to look at how to tackle this, they will reduce my tax at the end of march for 12 months....was seeing how much I could offer before then to reduce the payment. 

Starfish75789

Where does the time go - has it really been a month since my last update.

Im feeling a lot better this week - I think with Xmas, Work and all the pressure it got to me a bit.

Change of mindset but this is what im holding myself accountable for this year

Look after myself
Start moving a bit more.
Cooking, Helps with the budget and I actually love doing this. Trying for "no eating out January"
Look for a new job - based on the company. Worked for large companies for too long.

I know this is very sad but I was so happy this month - my washing machine broken which would normally cause chaos but I had emergency fund and I didn't realise the amount of stress not having this had caused in the past. Ive even made plans to top this back up next month....was quite a proud moment.

Debts update

Finally some are defaulting

Amex - Defaulted. Sent offer letter of payment back to NCO

Sainsburys CC and Loan - Both defaulted at the end of December. However before they did they added some significant charges....£500 onto each in one month. Anyway im waiting for the outcome of the affordable complaint. Sent a letter offer of payment to Capital for both of these. 

Monzo - Received letter in the post advising of default and further email saying I hadnt responded so will default....just waiting for this to appear and see who they pass this on to. 

Santander - Still receiving the normal you haven't paid letters. Had an update saying they still looking at my complaint.

HMRC - Decided to just take the hit on this. I don't want to confuse them and pay off half as they normally get it wrong. So will just keep back what ive saved and top up my wages each month with what they take out.

eleanorl89

Starfish75789 said:

Where does the time go - has it really been a month since my last update.

Im feeling a lot better this week - I think with Xmas, Work and all the pressure it got to me a bit.

Change of mindset but this is what im holding myself accountable for this year

Look after myself
Start moving a bit more.
Cooking, Helps with the budget and I actually love doing this. Trying for "no eating out January"
Look for a new job - based on the company. Worked for large companies for too long.

I know this is very sad but I was so happy this month - my washing machine broken which would normally cause chaos but I had emergency fund and I didn't realise the amount of stress not having this had caused in the past. Ive even made plans to top this back up next month....was quite a proud moment.

Debts update

Finally some are defaulting

Amex - Defaulted. Sent offer letter of payment back to NCO

Sainsburys CC and Loan - Both defaulted at the end of December. However before they did they added some significant charges....£500 onto each in one month. Anyway im waiting for the outcome of the affordable complaint. Sent a letter offer of payment to Capital for both of these. 

Monzo - Received letter in the post advising of default and further email saying I hadnt responded so will default....just waiting for this to appear and see who they pass this on to. 

Santander - Still receiving the normal you haven't paid letters. Had an update saying they still looking at my complaint.

HMRC - Decided to just take the hit on this. I don't want to confuse them and pay off half as they normally get it wrong. So will just keep back what ive saved and top up my wages each month with what they take out.

Hey starfish! I noticed you said one of your debts was passed to moorcroft, how have they been to deal with please? I received a letter saying one of my CC debts had been passed to moorcroft today & i’m not sure what they are like to deal with! Thanks so much

Starfish75789

@eleanorl89 Moorcroft have been fine so far.
I ignored everything they asked me to do - once defaulted I sent a letter in the post basically telling what I could afford to pay and a statement of affairs which matched up to that amount. They then sent a letter back to me accepting the offer and the details on how to pay....that was in November. I haven't heard of them since. I just pay by standing order with the reference number that they gave me.
Just remembered - I also signed up to their portal - just so I can see the balance and the payments ive made. I didn't setup any payment through it that as you had to complete their version of an SOA and they would only let you do direct debit of give them card details. Which from reading in the forums is a big no as it gives them control. 

Starfish75789

Has been a few months  - still trying to sort my finances.
The bit I'm struggling with most is catching up. For example ive been putting £50 a month away for gifts, but didn't take into account the timing of this. So a lot of birthdays in Feb/March, which meant I needed more this month.Next month I don't need any so will catchup again. It needs to be running for 12 months to even things out. 
In fact I have a lot of examples car insurance is due in May, because ive borrowed from other categories it means im just chasing each one and borrowing from the other.

My DMP

I have one account which hasn't defaulted (Santandar Loan) - they are still adding interest and charges. But im hopeful they will default my account soon.

Ive started making payments via standing order to the rest of them so hopefully things will start to calm down now. Im not getting as many letters or emails so will see.

My DMP worries me a little as its projected to last for 264 months....which is way too long.
My original plan was to get final settlements once debts had been sold and hopefully settle for less.
Id like to say my emergency fund is building up but hasn't changed/increased yet so im hoping I don't get any offers soon

I think I need a side hustle or something to start building up my funds.
Really want to have all this put behind me in the next two years

rachmac3

It's really hard in the first few months, waiting for things to settle, getting out of old habits, and trying to do things new ways. You're doing well though, don't be too hard on yourself, keep plodding on. 

Starfish75789

In the time since I posted I went through all my expenses again....Im not sure why but I quite like doing this. 

Anyway I've been living on my budget since November and im getting comfortable with what I have and what im spending my money on. I feel like it's moving in the right direction and that I should hopefully be able to start savinng in a year or two.

So this brings me onto my dilemma  - what do you prioritise.
I have children who are 13/14 and was thinking about what my plan was and how did the family fit into this. I forgot they are going to grow older, change, needs increase/decrease (Ha ha made me laugh) and how did what I have for my plan fit into all of this.
So I started to put things down which id like to do at some point. Holiday, House, Car, Uni, settlements, pension, driving lessons......etc etc..
Realising we can't do everything we had a real good discussion about it
Do we need to pay off the settlement - or just keep on paying low amounts?
Do we need to buy a house or happy renting
When we need to get a car - what is cost. If we didn't get a car what could we do with that Money.
Holidays - Day trips. week away, abroad etc...

I think for a first time in a long time we were looking forwards and actually taking a bit of control over what we are doing.

Debt update
Santandar loan still hasn't defaulted - I think they are adding around £100 a month interest on this still since May.
Amex - I got another offer from them. It's identical to the previous offer of 50%. Ive countered this with 27% and waiting for a response.
The rest I don't hear off anymore. The letters seem to have stopped, no emails.

Ive had notification that Sainsburys are selling my loan and CC to Natwest. That annoyed me as that's who I switched my bank to. So ive just had to move banks again.

Random question but I quite liked my Monzo account - how long after it's defaulted or sold before I can go back. Anyone done this before?

Well that's my waffle for the day....

Starfish75789

Well just come back from a short break for the bank holiday. This isn't something ive done before. Ive been missing out I normally go away in august for two weeks but wanted to manage my money better this time. So a few short breaks when the deals come up im finding suits my situation better. 

We are now down to one car as lease car has gone back - trying to adjust. Already twice I have gone to go out and had to stop myself. Makes me laugh.

My debts
The letters/chasing from DCA seem to have stopped and all calming down now.
I have now received defaults for all my accounts so can start my DMP properly - I have given them a SOA based on what im paying and will be saving up for settlements..thats my plan. 

Started at 49k..whilst waiting for defaults that went up to around 51k. Been paying off monthly so i'm down to around 50k left.

Made an offer to amex for just under 1k which has been accepted. So at the end of this month total debt will be down to £46k. Still a way to go, but it's going in the right direction.

Ive also got two complaints in with the FOS which im awaiting outcome for. Hopefully these will go my way but will update once I've received the outcome.

Sarahwithlove

Have you considered Starling? They are quite similar to Monzo it's just called saving spaces instead of pots. 

Starfish75789

Had a response from FOS for the Sainsburys loan, although they agreed that checks were not completed they said it wouldn't have made a difference if they had so no action taken. Ive asked for review to be done so will see on the outcome of this.

Ive managed to save around 2k - of which 900 is for emergency fund. The rest is for gift, car etc.... I think im doing well on that side of things. Using YNAB has helped me a lot on this and I think is a real game changer for me. It's coming up for renewal which I think is around £100....which is expensive but from my point of view is worth every penny at the moment.

I tried for a Starling account - that got rejected. Not sure why as no check was performed from what I can see.

My first debt got sold - it went from Monzo to PRA group - I see so many comments on the forum about these and how they won't settle but will see how we get on with them. Payments made on what I can afford so 21 year DMP....will see what they offer if anything.

Needed a bit of motivation today and saw this style in some of the signatures so thought I would copy. Would be good I think to add this every 6 months so I can see the progress.

Debts                    04/01/25       02/06/25   

Sainsburys CC         £6,072           £5,979
HSBC CC                 £6,169           £6,023
Santandar CC          £7,949           £7,858
AMEX CC                 £3,736           £      0
Monzo                      £2,981           £3029
CC total                 £26,907        £22,889

Sainsburys Loan   £16,169         £15,922
Santandar Loan    £  7,668         £  7,633
Loan Total            £23,837         £23,555
Total                     £50,744         £46,444
EF £911